Hot opinion: Summer is for reading a book by the water. (OK, fine, maybe that’s not a controversial opinion.) Even better? If your book of choice is Jewish, or even just Jewish. Here are some books we’ve read or would like to read that feel like the perfect Jewish summer reading.
“Behind Every Good Person” by Sara Goodman Confino: Miss The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? Set in the 1960s, this novel, whose protagonist is as sassy as the aspiring comedian, might satisfy that need with a little more feminism and romance! After Beverly Diamond catches her husband Larry, the campaign manager for first-term Maryland Senator Sam Gibson, cheating with his secretary, the Jewish Washington housewife and now divorced mother of two hatches the ultimate revenge plan. She joins the campaign of his underdog opponent Michael Landau and uses everything she knows to help Michael win. —Lior
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin: I love diving into a longer, compelling story in the summer (ask me about my Infinite Jest summer), and after hearing pretty much everyone I love and respect rave about this book, I finally dove in and am so glad I did. Although the novel follows a group of friends who start a successful video game company, you don’t have to be into video games (I don’t) to love this book, which has some richly drawn Jewish characters and a plot that will keep you hooked. Ultimately, it’s a friendship story, so get some friends to read it with you and talk about it together. —Molly
“Sandwich” by Catherine Newman: Catherine Newman has a wickedly bubbly way of spicing up everyday situations—from making a sandwich to fiddling with technology to arguing with your spouse. I’ve loved every Catherine Newman book I’ve read—from her nearly 10-year-old memoir about parenting, Waiting for Birdy, to her devastatingly sad (and hilarious) novel We All Want Impossible Things—and this book about the undeniable oddity of raising adult children and caring for aging parents (all while spending a week at the beach) is no exception.—Daci
“Magical meeting with cute“ by Jean Meltzer: The latest romance novel from the author of The Matzah Ball is a golem story about a former lawyer turned potter set in Woodstock, New York. After a failed singles event at her local synagogue and a flood of anti-Semitic leaflets flooding her town, Faye Kaplan retreats to her pottery studio and creates a golem based on her dream man, only to meet him the next day. I don’t think I need to say much more about this, but I have to admire both the excellent man bun and the tallis on this cover. —Lior
“Worry” by Alexandra Tanner: Jewish angst is perfectly encapsulated in this short read about two sisters in their twenties trying to navigate their lives and figure out how to best fit each other into theirs. There may be some moments that hit too close to home for those of us who diagnose ourselves as “chronically online,” but the humor and uniqueness of the voice make it an excellent poolside read. —Molly
“Till There Was You” by Lindsay Hameroff: This romantic comedy about a regular person and a celebrity with a Jewish protagonist has been on my to-read pile for some time, but I’ve been waiting to devour it in a hammock or by a lake. I think now is the time. Who wants to read it with me? — Daci
“Jackpot Summer” by Elyssa Friedland: From the author of the wonderful novels Last Summer at the Golden Hotel and The Floating Feldmans comes a Jewish family story set on the New Jersey shore about four siblings who pack up their childhood beach house after the unveiling of their mother’s grave. Although raised to be frugal by their recently deceased matriarch, the four Jacobson siblings are struggling financially. When three of the four enter a Powerball drawing and win millions, the solution to their problems seems at hand – but money can’t solve everything, and as many Jews know, true wealth comes from family. –Lior
“Long Island Compromise” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner: Halfway through the first chapter of this extremely Jewish novel from the author of Fleishman Is In Trouble, I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into. But once I got to know the characters (all of whom are so, so flawed, but with whom I would happily spend another 500 pages), I flew through this dense book with all its twists and turns. —Daci
““Cue the Sun” by Emily Nussbaum: New York television critic and Pulitzer Prize winner Emily Nussbaum is releasing her second book this summer, this time on the early history of reality TV. Everything Nussbaum writes is required reading, but “Cue the Sun” also includes some Jewish tidbits, including the history of “Candid Camera” by reality TV pioneer Allen Funt. —Lior
“Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret” by Judy Blume: Maybe it’s all the ice cream and swimming pools, but summer always makes me feel a little bit like a kid, and so it’s the perfect time to re-read this classic, which I don’t think I really need to describe to you. We must, we must, we must improve our ability as adults to empathize with the messy, lovable psyche of tweens! —Molly
“The Singer Sisters” by Sarah Seltzer: Are you a fan of the Tony-winning “Stereophonic”? Then this book by former Kveller editor Sarah Seltzer is the music novel you need. It explores life as a woman in the music world through the relationship between ’90s alt-rocker Emma Cantor and her mother, ’60s folk icon Judie Cantor, who one day just stopped making music. —Lior
“Finn and Ezra’s Bar Mitzvah Time Loop” by Joshua S. Levy: This book is for middle school age children, although I read it to my 9 year old and had a great time. As the title suggests, this book is about two boys who are stuck in a time loop on their Bar Mitzvah weekend. My daughter laughed hysterically and begged me to read another chapter every night (which I did). —Daci
“Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Invented the Universe” by Ken Krimstein: As you may or may not know, I am currently obsessed with the Kafka miniseries and therefore must read this graphic novel about the encounter between two Jewish greats in Prague in the 1910s, which comes out in August of this year. —Lior
“The Place of All Possibilities: Fostering Creativity through Ancient Jewish Wisdom” by Rabbi Adina Allen: Summer is the perfect time to spark your creativity, and I love the framework this book provides and its belief that we can all turn to art to make sense of the world. —Molly
“The Sins on Their Bones” by Laura R. Samotin & “The Familiar” by Leigh Bardugo: These books came out in May and April, but I think this summer is the right time to dive into Jewish fantasy. The Sins on Their Bones is a super sexy and super dark Jewish queer fantasy debut novel set in an alternate 19th century Europe. The Familiar is a dark fantasy set in the Spanish Golden Age from the acclaimed author of Shadow & Bone. If you love fantasy, these two books should be on your summer reading list. —Lior
